A Primordial day at "The Green Cauldron"

The only thing not green I can see are the blue balls of Hortensia dotting the hillsides. Have we splashed down in the Land of Oz. On the other hand, judging by the enormous Erica "heather", the giant oaks, the Spanish moss dripping from the branches, we may have arrived in a kind of Jurassic Park. Tyronnosaurus Rex would be dwarfed in these crater-like caverns. tipping my I tip my head backwards to get a glimpse of the pointy tops of green volcanic mountains, look out over the bluish faraway valleys below; a hobbit wouldn't have been out of place either. We'll have to tell our sailboat neighbors, "Galadriel" and "Lady of Lorien", about this place.

From the town of Santana ,with the triangular thatched roofed houses, we take the road to Quemadas and the National Park House. This is a two-story thatched dwelling, tiny under the huge leafy trees. In the duck-pond there are thatched duck-houses, even more tiny.
We follow the trail signs to Levada do Caldeiro Verde, to the green cauldron. The walk starts under enormous oaks and beeches, hanging Spanish moss. The mountainside, ever steeper, is coverd with Hortensia, or Hydrangea, in full bloom. Its blue puff-ball flowers color the hills purple-blue Laurel and pine and Erica Heather-trees take over as the mountainside becomes more and more vertical. The levada-waterways snakes around the perimeter, halfway between the deep valley and the peak, high in the clouds.

There is the occational guard-rail wire, occationally functioning.

There are a couple slippery spots of red lava-mud, under waterfalls, and four tunnels. Bring flashlights! We arrive at The Green Cauldron, an enormous cavernous mountainside. The waterfall, a silver pencil against the black lava. Hortensias, blue at the base, a tiny circle of blue sky visible way, way up at the top.
The stones on the cliffs are furry with thick moss, deep under the leafy mountainsides. All sounds are absorbed. Not a bird. Just a few meters distance from the waterfall, silence.
Later, out around the undulating contours of the vertical mountainsides, we send endless echos across the abysses.
The trail to Caldeiro Inferno is further along the same track. We walk into its waterfall, another spectacular spot. Then climb the stone stairway 80m up to the top of this waterfall, and another levada. The first tunnel of this trail starts there. But we have to return because of the increasing fog and the diminishing daylight. Next time...

Back on the expressway, bright lights, long tunnels and speeding traffic. We head back to "Babette". Back to the dark marina on the wild and windy Sao Lourença peninsula.